ANC Statement on the NEC meeting, NEC Lekgotla and the National List Conference January 28, 2014 The African National Congress has held a one day NEC meeting on the 24th January 2014, which was followed by a two day NEC Lekgotla that took place on 25th – 26th January 2014 and a one day National List Conference on the 27th January 2014. All these meetings took place at Saint George hotel in Irene. We want to welcome all of you to this our new media centre. We started the construction of this centre seven months ago and completed it in December. It has all the facilities to meet your needs. We are equally excited that you will no longer be crammed at the foyer. We want to take this opportunity to thank you for your perseverance. The NEC meeting was an ordinary meeting of the ANC that processed internal matters in the main. It also looked at a few issues that have been processed by the NWC. These include the following: The NEC directed the National Officials to engage comrades who are facing allegations of wrong doing so that they can explain themselves to avoid prolonged processes, that drag the ANC name, either in court or anywhere else. This engagement will then allow the said individual to act in accordance with the Mangaung resolution, which amongst says that those facing allegations of wrong doing should voluntarily recuse themselves or step aside from leadership positions from the ANC and government or any other deployment. The NEC deliberated at length on the need to strengthen local government as a critical sphere that is experiencing challenges of service delivery. It therefore welcomed the intervention in Madibeng and resolved that this approach by the ANC will be a hallmark of dealing with any allegations of negligence, corruption and incompetence at all levels of government particularly in local government. The NEC agreed with the principle of deployment of former Ministers, Deputy, Members of Parliament, Premiers, MECs, MPLs and even formers Presidents and their Deputies to strengthen local government. The ANC will then be engaging all its structures on this matter to secure an endorsement and agreement on this position in the next policy conference. Through this deployment of experienced cadres, we will be able to strengthen the sphere of local government. The NEC Lekgotla received assessment reports on the performance of government in the five priority areas agreed to in the 2009 manifesto. The Lekgotla acknowledged that a lot of progress has been made in improving the quality of life of most South Africans particularly the most disadvantaged. We can legitimately give credence to our articulation that South Africa is today a better place than it was in 1994. We truly have a good story to tell as also affirmed by objective and independent research i.e, Ernst & Young and Goldman Sachs amongst others. The Lekgotla agreed that building on this good story of the past five and twenty years, the five priority areas will still be carried through in the next administration. Added to the five priorities will be the social transformation with emphasis on human settlement and the provision of basic services like housing, water, electricity and proper sanitation. Also added as a list of priorities in the next five year is building a democratic developmental state with emphasis on long term planning, ability and capacity to drive infrastructure and industrial development as well as social cohesion. All these priority areas will contribute significantly in moving South Africa forward as encapsulated in our 2014 elections manifesto. With regards to priorities on employment and economic growth the Lekgotla agreed that emphasis of the next administration should be on infrastructure development and roll-out on catalytic sectors and programmes like ICT, water infrastructure energy and transport amongst others. The Lekgotla further agreed that the youth incentive schemes will play a pivotal role in introducing young people to the labour market. Equally, the FETs will also be an important player in this regard. The Lekgotla identified the up-scaled EPWP as a necessary and important government intervention in curbing unemployment amongst people of all ages in the next administration. We also agreed that the actualization of a centralized tender system for all spheres of government must be expedited without any delay. This will go a long way in curbing fraudulent activities and corruption linked to public service tenders. The African National Congress (ANC) held its National List Conference on Monday, 27 January 2014 to decide on its candidates in the forthcoming national and provincial elections. The list conference follows successful manifesto launches throughout the country in which people came out in their numbers to re-affirm their confidence in the ANC as the leading political representative of South Africans with unmatched experienced, capacity and political determination to mobilise and unite all our people to create a better life for all. The conference was the culmination of a massive exercise in participatory democracy involving ANC members in thousands of branches throughout the country over a number of months. Consistent with this inclusive approach, the conference was attended by members of the National Executive Committee (NEC), the National List Committee, representatives of nine Provincial List Committees, the South African Communist Party (SACP), Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), South African National Civics Organisation (Sanco), the ANC Women’s League, Youth League and Veteran’s League; as well as the uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA). The meeting received and discussed reports from the National and Provincial List Committees. All lists were adopted after rigorous discussion and the National List Committee and the ANC officials were mandated to make final adjustments in line with the list criteria and discussions of conference. These lists were compiled in accordance with criteria reflecting the character of the ANC as a national liberation movement that contests elections to obtain a mandate to implement its policies and programmes to ensure a better life for all. In line with the overall deployment strategy and priorities of the ANC the lists were required to comply with the following criteria: (1) Geographical spread; (2) At least 50% representation of women; (3) Ensuring continuity and experience by having 60% sitting or former MPs and MPLs; (4) Be broadly representative of the demographics of different provinces and the country as a whole; (5) Reflect the liberation movement character of the ANC, including considering ANC members serving in COSATU, the SACP, SANCO, and MDM structures; (6) Good mix of youth and age, as well as people with disabilities; (7) Specific areas of expertise to deal with the challenges of government especially in the priority areas of economic development, rural development, social development, safety and security, infrastructure development, and or technical areas like public finance or law; (8) Candidates must be available for full-time parliamentary, party and constituency work and must be prepared to declare all other interests. Individual candidates should be ANC members in good standing with a proven track record of commitment to and involvement in the democratic movement; have experience or expertise that will enable them to make a constructive contribution in the relevant legislature; have no criminal record (this excludes political-related crimes committed before April 1994); no history of ill-discipline or corruption; no history of involvement in fostering divisions and conflict; no other breaches of the ANC code of conduct. The meeting recommitted the ANC to campaign all out in the coming national and provincial elections to obtain an overwhelming majority to implement its manifesto and to continue building on the good work of the past twenty years. Conference expressed confidence that this team public representatives will enable the ANC to strengthen the bonds of trust and solidarity with our people and to remain true to our values of courage, service, self-sacrifice, human solidarity, honesty, humility hard-work, self-discipline and mutual respect. We will work with our allies and the people to move South Africa forward through the commitments we have set out in this manifesto. TOGETHER WE MOVE SOUTH AFRICA FORWARD! Issued by: Gwede Mantashe # Siyaqhuba
Posted on: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 15:22:38 +0000